They instantly knew it was Henry’s doing. The calculating look that crossed his face as he left the restaurant flashed in their minds. He was pretty quick, designing a fake inspection to stop them from entering the base. Or perhaps he was merely playing with them and there wasn’t any inspection at all. "Miss, please stop!" The gatekeeper exclaimed sternly when they saw Nyra walking toward the gate. The other two gatekeepers’ condescending looks were wiped off their faces in an instant. They stood up and blocked her at the entrance. The gate wasn’t locked, and some people were obviously still allowed to get in or get out of the base. Nyra frowned. "If there is an inspection and new people aren’t allowed to go inside, why do you let them in?" The gatekeepers exchanged looks. They suddenly dragged a person who was about to go in and took him to meet Nyra. "Tell this missy. You are coming back from a mission, right?" The gatekeeper stared hard at the thin teenager, daring him to say the opposite. Follow current ɴᴏᴠᴇʟs on 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭·𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦·𝘯𝘦𝘵 The thin teenager had a scared look on his face. He kept glancing at the people he had come with, and eventually he gulped while stuttering, "Y-yes. I just returned from a mission." He didn’t know what was going on. The gatekeeper was confronting these people, and now he was dragged in front of the aggressive-looking girl. "See?" The gatekeeper had a shallow smile on his face. In a fake, polite tone, he told Nyra. "Please come another day, Missy." Nyra didn’t budge in the slightest. The longer it dragged on, the more likely an accident would occur. They needed to find the Valez family quickly. "Move." She flatly told them. "Are you going to enter the base forcefully, Miss?" The gatekeeper’s face turned harsh, and they formed a wall to stop her from advancing further. The small commotion had caught the attention of the people who were passing by, but they didn’t dare to stare for too long. They were afraid of being dragged into the conflict. The thin teenager was released after that, scurrying back to his people like a lost kitten. After half a year, Zerra mostly saw unfamiliar faces. She doubted these people could even recognize them. A frown marred her forehead. Unless they met someone familiar from the Valez family’s side, they might not even find them. Henry must have done something. Seeing Nyra trying to go inside, others followed. The gatekeepers could deal with one or two people, but they absolutely couldn’t deal with so many people trying to break in at once. The three gatekeepers happened to pick the wrong people to block; Nyra, Cassias, and Sean. So, they suffered, all sprawling on the ground and could only watch helplessly as the group entered the base. Seeing them beating up the gatekeepers like that, the people around instantly formed a path to let them pass, afraid they would be next. "What should we do next?" Zerra asked. She had searched all around with her senses and still couldn’t find anyone from the Valez family. How devastating their losses were? "Some of them have defected to the Brown family’s side." Nyra clenched her jaw when she noticed Zerra’s eyes, which were examining the surroundings. Then, Zerra spotted them. There were some soldiers who should have been under Major General Valez, Darren’s brother, but they were avoiding looking into Zerra’s group too long and instantly scurried away. The people they were mingling with... they looked so comfortable getting along with the Brown family’s men too. Zerra was sure that among the faces she recognized, these men used to dislike the Brown family a lot–they often cursed them for being immortal. Unfortunately, humans’ hearts were still the most unpredictable. "Let’s go. Don’t separate. We should always keep a lookout for each other." Nyra warned them. "We should go around finding Darren and others." With that, surprisingly, Nyra took Nerith’s hand. She brought her to the bewildered Zerra. Nyra’s face was a little awkward, but voice was firm. "Protect Mom!" She also turned to Cassias meaningfully. Nerith was their current weakest member. Even so, as they charged into the opponent’s headquarters, they couldn’t afford to leave her behind. It would be even more dangerous if Henry’s men found her and held her captive, so they had to bring her along. Nerith bit her lip, realizing how disadvantageous her presence was. She and her husband had joined the children so that they could make sure they were safe, but she had become a burden. "Mom," Zerra’s soft voice floated to her ears. As they walked, she squeezed her hand in an attempt to comfort her. Nerith gave a slight, stiff smile. She rubbed her daughter’s head, sighing. On another note, she was glad now that Nyra had begun to accept her too. As they went deeper into the base, people no longer stared at them strangely with looks of vigilance. They treated them as if they were ordinary base members. The low-power ability users who had awakened their ability late seemed to be unaware of the turmoil going on at the base too. Zerra wasn’t surprised to see such people. However, she also felt pity at the same time. Because, she knew they were only safe from Henry because their power was too low. The Brown family treated them like livestock who would soon be slaughtered. They kept the low-power ability users at the base, letting them have a vague sense of security from the zombies and mutated animals outside. Then, when they were strong enough... Henry and his men would take the crystal cores in their brains as if they were harvesting crops. "I am sure they already alerted Henry that we forcefully broke in now." Laziel pressed his lips together. Nyra scoffed. "Let them do that." As Cassias walked beside Zerra, he offered an idea with a smile. "Let them do that. If they make so much noise, Darren will soon hear we are here." Zerra witnessed Nyra’s eyes lit up as Cassias fed her with an idea. She had an ominous premonition. Even after checking the dorm, they still hadn’t found traces of the Valdez family. It was very strange. As if the whole family had disappeared. With such a worrying situation, Zerra knew Nyra would feel the need to make bigger waves. And... she wasn’t wrong.